At Avjobs, we want to make sure our aviation applicants stand out from the rest!There are several things we can recommend to all aviation applicants and we offer even more tips to our active applicants. A resume is always a work in progress and it’s vital to review your resume periodically to be sure you are always marketing yourself the best you can.

Here are a few tips:

Keep a notebook and write down any new accomplishments, projects, volunteer work, responsibilities, skills, training etc. and update your resume as necessary

Be sure to distinguish yourself from everyone else doing the same job

Give specifics of what you do

Include key statistics, numbers, quotas overachieved etc.

Check for typos and grammar issues

Use compelling action verbs

Do you need a cohesive resume format that aviation employers love? The Avjobs Resume Builder is just that and helps you layout all your aviation training, flight hours, employment, military history, education and pilot and mechanical experience. Active applicant members can call for a free Avjobs resume review and feedback once you have completed all 6 sections of the resume builder.

The grammar used on your resume says a lot about you and today we want to address capitalization.

We were recently asked:

When is it correct to spell out United States, and when should we use the abbreviations US, U.S., and USA?

Good question!

As with many grammar questions, there are differences of opinion, but here are some generally accepted guidelines you can follow:

Short forms, such as U.S., are common in casual language, and using a full name or title is considered more appropriate in formal language. So, for example, when giving a speech, you should always say "The United States of America." (The full form is also more dramatic.)

In writing, use the full form, United States, as a noun, and U.S. (with periods inserted and no spaces) as an adjective describing another noun, as in these examples:

In the United States, many people work full time.

The U.S. Postal Service is in financial trouble. (U.S. is an adjective describing Postal Service)

Finally, use of the abbreviation USA is limited. You will find it in some proper nouns, especially the names of media sources such as the newspaper USA Today, the cable television channel USA Network, and websites like USAaircraft.com. It can also be used in mailing addresses and fixed expressions such as "Made in the USA." Unless you are quoting a source, however, you do not need to use it.

Why should you learn to use proper grammar?

The quality of your writing often has a huge influence on the first impression you make on people. People judge you based on how you write and speak. Taking the time to follow the rules of Standard English in your formal writing and speech allows you to present yourself in the best possible light.

Lets get you hired!

Your resume is important because of all the things it says about you. It proves that you’re qualified, that you care about the job, and that you understand the working world of aviation. These are important facts for any potential employer to know.

Applicants that create a professional, job-ready resume with Avjobs Resume Builder get more attention from hiring managers and get hired faster.

Your Avjobs Resume Builder Resume (Master Profile) makes the most comprehensive and accurate overview of your professional aviation experience available to hiring managers to search, view, and to contact you directly about available positions. And it's the fastest way for employers to find you. The information in your Master Profile enables 1 click application features, and helps Avjobs staff members to match your experience with job postings and recommend your resume to hiring managers.

Your completed Avjobs Master Profile is organized for convenience and provides a standardized way for employers to compare applicants. Completing the Avjobs Master Profile provides information that is not normally found on a resume and also provides specifics requested by hiring managers.

Personal Information

It's important to include all your contact information so employers can easily get in touch with you. If your contact information changes, it is crucial that you update this section and notify potential employers.

Employment History

Enter employment history for the last 10 years. Your employment history is presented in reverse chronological order, with the most recent jobs placed at the top of the list.

Military History

If you served in the armed forces, describe your length of service, branch of service, rank, and discharge or reserve status. Employers generally react favorably to military service experience.

Education & Training

For many jobs, the Education section on a resume is key. Your education can involve on-site or online courses, workshops, conferences, seminars and even self-learning materials.

Pilot Experience

Include skills & background info to provide an overview of your piloting experience, training and background. Be as specific as possible. Provide full and abbreviated names when listing aircraft flown.

Mechanical Experience

This section applies to all mechanical and maintenance experience. Though mechanics and maintenance workers are in demand, having the appropriate license, certificate or level of experience is critical.

Be sure to complete all 6 sections

When you keep your professional experience up to date, our system will keep your resume at the top of the list of employer searches.

How to edit your resume to get that interview

Resumes used to be what you created only when you were looking for a new job. Avjobs has changed all that. Today, everyone can keep their resume polished by keeping their Avjobs master profile up-to-date.

Why Keep Your Avjobs Profile Current?

There are many advantages to keeping your Avjobs profile current instead of having your resume online somewhere else:

Avjobs profiles are not only for job seekers, so your current employer won’t be suspicious

Opportunities you don’t expect can come your way because recruiters love Avjobs

Co-workers, peers and even your manager can find out more about your accomplishments

Not having an Avjobs profile today is a serious misstep. Avjobs is becoming more and more important. Even if you have no intention of every working again it is still wise to optimize that profile.

Keeping Your Resume Current

With the economy the way it is, it wouldn’t hurt to have both digital and written copies of an actual resume available. Writing it while you are employed and relaxed is likely to generate better results to doing it when you are upset and stressed out over having been laid off or worse.

If you don’t have a resume when you need one, having all the details saved on Avjobs will make the challenge easier. There are many reasons to keep your resume up-to-date:

Refer to it just before your annual review

Use it to apply to speak at a conference or join a professional aviation organization

Details can be used to nominate you for an award

Share it with collaborators

Take it to networking events

Make Yourself More Impressive

The stronger your resume, the better you can compete for any openings that do exist. Consider simplifying what is on your resume to make the first cut. Then have a really impressive Avjobs profile so you stand out.

In today’s aviation industry, “Everyone Sells”. Use your resume to sell yourself. Read your resume and then ask yourself – Why should I hire you. Your resume needs to tell the reader exactly why they should hire you. Just because you didn’t take any sick days doesn’t make you more hirable than the next person. I like to add the phrase “So what?” to the end of every statement on a resume. Try it yourself. If you’re not able to justify the statement with something that sets you apart from the stack of 100 other applicants, you may as well leave it off your resume.

You have to remember the other 100 applicants for this job all had the same jobs you have had. They have all worked at the same companies or ones very similar. They have all had the same duties and responsibilities and they all had perfect attendance. “So What?” So what makes you different than the other 100 applicants? Tell me on your resume. Tell me how you did the job better than anyone else – with examples.

Employers are not looking for more employees that just show up at 8 and leave at 5. These days that’s just not good enough. They ARE looking for contributors to the bottom line, improvers of processes, increasers of revenues, reducers of time (you get the point).

Check out these tips in Why Smart People Don’t Get Hired:

“Most people don’t understand that hiring managers aren’t looking at resumes to find the right candidate. They use them to eliminate the, “wrong,” ones. When faced with a stack to read through, they will often eliminate the shorter less descriptive resumes as a matter of course.

Most people only do their job just exactly as well as they have to. Most hiring managers are looking to solve a problem. If your resume happens to show that you are a person with the skills to solve that particular problem, you’re in. If not, you’re in the round file.

Don't Miss These Tips

“You would be surprised. A couple of years ago when I was on the job search, I made myself a very polished two-page resume which I tried to make as elegant as possible. Really, I tried my hardest to make sure it was well-written and “flowed” like an article. Did an email blast (maybe 20-30 emails), got maybe 1 response and even that was a recruiter.

Then, I asked a good friend of mine to look at it. His response was “dude, tear all this crap out – it doesn’t belong here! First, a resume doesn't have to be only 1 page. Second, pretend you barely speak any English at all (no bullet point should be longer than one, or in exceptional cases, two sentences, and all sentences should have no more than 5-10 words of boilerplate (any word that isn’t a aviation name, keyword or acronym)), and in many cases you should just downright resort to listing bare technologies separated by commas. Trust me.” (This is not, by any means, an exaggeration!)

I was so shocked at the feedback that I laughed at first, but then figured – why not try it? So I dumbed down my resume to literally the level of someone with a couple of years of English taken in high school in their native country, who just arrived into the US. And, to my (COMPLETE) shock, about half of the emails I sent received replies (including from companies directly; one small airline company’s reply stood out to me as particularly straightforward: “When can you come in for an interview?”).

I actually ended up landing something very close to (at that time) my dream job from that email blast. That’s when I learned my lesson. These days, when I work on my resume, I first write it how I’d like it to look, and then iterate over it multiple times until it is at a point that it can be understood by a 3rd-grader (barring acronyms and buzzwords).

However, I will mention that I could not understand this system and thought it was unfair, only until I found myself getting tons of call and emails for interviews.